1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates generally to a slide bar apparatus for use with a stringed instrument such as a standard guitar, and more particularly to a slide bar apparatus which can be quickly and easily mounted and dismounted onto any selected finger of a guitar player's fret hand and which is dimensioned to substantially cover only the middle portion of the player's selected fret finger between the first and second finger joints for contacting a plurality of guitar strings at one time for playing steel guitar on a standard guitar while simultaneously enabling the guitar player to freely bend the first and second finger joints of the selected finger for playing standard guitar separately from or simultaneously with the playing of steel guitar.
2. Field Of The Invention
One conventional slide bar apparatus of the prior art comprises an elongated cylindrical tube having a hollow interior and dimensioned to fit only one finger of the fret hand of the guitar player, usually the fourth finger of the fret hand. The length of the prior art slide bar was normally such that it covered the finger tip, the front finger portion, and the middle finger portion of the selected finger on which it was worn thereby disabling the movement of first and second finger joints to prevent the guitar player from using the selected finger for any other purpose whatsoever. This is typical of the slide bars of the prior art which must be physically removed from the selected finger in order to enable the guitar player to play standard guitar rather than steel guitar.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,466,344 which issued to F. W. Wright on Apr. 5, 1949 for a Guitar Steel shows another type of prior art guitar steel. With this type, an arcuately curved portion covers substantially the entire length of the selected finger thereby disabling the first and second finger joints and preventing the player from playing standard guitar unless the guitar steel was first removed from the finger. The guitar steel of this invention extended longitudinally along the selected finger to cover the first and second joints as well as the first, middle and rear portion of the fingers including the finger tip.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,638,525 issued to Edward Sciurba et. al. on Feb. 1, 1972 for a Finger Glide Bar. The glide bar of this patent includes a cylindrical ring portion adapted to fit around the mid-portion of a selected finger for holding purposes only, while the guitar steel or contact portion extends from the mid-portion of the finger past the first joint and under the front or first portion of the finger and the finger tip thereby preventing it from playing standard guitar while the glide bar is in that position. The glide bar of this patent is rotatable about the ring or band on the middle portion of the finger for enabling the guitar player to rotate the guitar steel from the lower or playing position to an upper or storage position above the middle and front portion of the finger and over the first finger joint. While this enables the player to move the finger tip in a somewhat restricted fashion and play standard guitar, it is only after time is wasted by rotating the device from the use position to the storage position. In use, that the device extends completely across the bottom of the finger from the mid-portion to the finger tip and totally prevents movement of the first joint or use of the front portion of the finger for playing conventional guitar while it is in the use position.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,854,368 issued to Leonard Pogan on Dec. 17, 1974 for a Finger Mountable Guitar String Contact Device. This patent shows a ring-like device comprised of a single piece of metal whose hollow interior is sized for fitting only one finger of the fret hand of a guitar finger. Again, the elongated contact surface for playing steel guitar must be rotated from the storage position to the use position for playing steel guitar and from the use position to a storage position for enabling the guitar player to use the finger for playing standard guitar. When in use position, the longitudinal contact surface covers the first joint of the finger and prevents it from being to play standard guitar notes and chords or for dampening while in that position.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,741,065; 3,457,822; 3,822,629; and 4,475,433 all illustrate various slide bars or capos for a stringed musical instrument. Some are extremely complex and difficult to wear while others are designed only for playing steel guitar and not for playing conventional or standard guitar at all. All must be physically removed or repositioned resulting in lost time and limiting the musical selection of the guitar player and/or his or her performance when wearing the devices. Most are extremely complex, cumbersome, and severely limit playability.
The guitar slide bar apparatuses of the prior art all suffer from the fact that they must be physically mounted and dismounted in order to switch from playing steel guitar to playing conventional guitar or they must be repositioned from a non-use or storage position to a use position for enabling the steel guitar sound to be produced. Furthermore, the slide bar apparatuses of the prior art are limited in that they are designed only for a single finger of the guitar player's fret hand, such as the fourth finger, and cannot be interchangeably used on other fingers. Still further, all severely restrict playability. This means that a guitar player cannot use the finger wearing the slide bars of the prior art to fret notes, to play chords, or to dampen the other strings of the guitar if he or she so desires. It is extremely difficult to use the other fingers while wearing a restricted slide bar and it normally totally restricts the use of the finger wearing the slide bar when the slide bar is in the use position. Still further, the mounting and dismounting of the prior art slide bar or the repositioning from a non-use or storage position to a use position takes time, thereby requiring the guitar player to stop playing and take the slide bar on and off or to reposition it. This takes time which limits the guitar player's abilities and the selection of the music he or she plays. Normally, the guitarist using the slide apparatus of the prior art can either play straight guitar or steel guitar, but not both, without switching between the two resulting in loss of time and periods of no playing.
Still another problem with the devices of the prior art resides in the fact that the inner radius which is conformed to fit the desired finger comes only in one size. Slide bars conventionally come with a relatively smaller inner radius designed specifically for the fourth finger of the fret hand, but the others are of a single size only and will fit snugly over only one finger of the fret hand. Therefore, the guitar player cannot choose which finger he wants to use it on, but must use it on the finger which happens to fit the slide bar.
The guitar slide bar or guitar steel of the present apparatus avoids substantially all of the disadvantages, problems and limitations of the prior art while providing a slide bar which can be worn on the middle portion of any selected one of the fingers of the guitar player's fret hand without restricting the ability of the selected finger to play standard guitar without the need of mounting and dismounting the device or repositioning the device from a use to a non-use position. In fact, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the guitar steel of the present invention can be placed on the middle portion of a selected one of the fingers of the guitar player's fret hand and can remain in that "use" position while enabling the guitar player to play standard guitar with the front finger portion and/or finger tip; steel guitar with the contact surface of the device; or both independently or simultaneously, as desired.